Leading the G20, the premier group of economies for international economic cooperation and decision making, is a rare privilege. Tony Abbott's leadership task is to make the agenda this year relevant, interesting and engaging.

This is easier said than done and requires the Prime Minister to put forward a practical agenda that will bring about real reform in the global economy.

This won't be achieved by playing domestic politics, chanting glib slogans or by denying the circumstances that caused the global financial crisis and the global recession. It was the global financial crisis and the global recession that resulted in the establishment of the G20 as a leadership group effectively replacing the G7.

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For the first time in world history developing countries got a seat at the global decision making table, and so did Australia, the world's 12th largest economy.

Nations, sitting in the audience at Davos, both developed and developing, that were smashed by the US subprime crisis, who deployed fiscal stimulus to avoid economic Armageddon, will be scratching their heads today wondering what the Prime Minister has in store for them when they get to Brisbane in November this year.

Lifting global growth is imperative. It requires concerted global action against rampant tax evasion by multinational companies, through both base erosion and profit shifting, new financial models and governance for infrastructure, and, of course, breaking the world trade deadlock.

Some of these reforms were mentioned by Mr Abbott but obscured by his domestic political pitch.

You'd have to go a long way to find someone that wants the G20 to succeed in Brisbane this year more than I do. I urge Mr Abbott and Mr Hockey to stop playing grubby domestic politics with the leadership of the G20 in which Australia has a lot at stake.

It will be difficult enough to convince key world leaders to travel half way around the world for the November meeting. More time spent on genuine reform agenda and less on grubby domestic politics is imperative and would assist.

For the record, Mr Abbott's claims about spending being an addiction in Australia are false. (see graph) They risk damaging the reputation of our Triple-A credit-rated economy, and have already undermined Mr Abbott's own credibility.

Wayne Swan was federal treasurer between 2007 and 2013. He is the federal MP for Lilley.